Obama Snags Endorsement — From Russian Prez Medvedev

President Barack Obama scored a ringing endorsement for re-election Monday — from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. “I would like Barack Obama to be re-elected president of the United States maybe more than someone else,” Medvedev declared during an interview with Financial Times.

Medvedev's support apparently stems from Obama’s willingness to work with him to improve U.S.-Russian relations, a major pillar of his foreign policy plan.

Medvedev seems to fear a collapse of the newly cooperative relationship between the United States and Russia if President Obama loses in his bid for re-election in 2012. “If another person becomes U.S. president, then he may have another course,” he said.

"We understand that there are representatives of a rather conservative wing there who are trying to achieve their political goals at the expense of inflaming passions in relation to Russia, among other things,” he said in the interview. "But what use is criticizing them? This is simply a way of achieving political goals."